On command,
Noach leaves the
ark [8,15:16]
Hashem spoke to
Noach, saying,
Depart from the
ark, yourself
and your wife,
your sons, and
your son's wives
with you.
We would surely
understand why
he might be
hesitant to do
so. A midrash
explains [Yalkut
Shimoni,
Yeshayahu 477]:
Noach said, If I
shall leave the
ark, and
procreate,
Hashem will once
again be angry
and destroy the
world - why
should I leave?
It is Take 2 for
the world and
Noach's daunting
mission is to
begin it again.
First, Noach
builds an altar
and brings
sacrifices. The
result:
Hashem smelled
the
pleasing
fragrance,
and Hashem said
in His heart,
"Never again
will I curse the
ground because
of man, .. I
will never again
smite every
living thing as
I have done.
Netziv and
others point out
the singularity
of that phrase
the
pleasing
fragrance.
It is only time
in the whole
Torah that we
find it. As a
result Hashem
promises Noach
that the world
will never again
be destroyed by
Him
It's a good
start.
Hashem then
commands Noach:
Be fruitful and
multiply and
fill the earth..
Your fear and
terror will be
upon every wild
beast of the
earth..
Multiply, take
dominion of the
world and you
may now eat meat.
Somehow, these
are all
connected, but
that's for a
different time.
In the
meanwhile,
simply note a
striking
similarity to
the opening of
Bereishis. Adam
and Noach are to
be fruitful,
multiply and to
progress the
world. Bear in
mind that in the
end Noach never
fulfills the
commandment to
multiply!?
God then
proclaims the
famed rainbow
covenant:
Behold, I am
making a
covenant with
you and with
your offspring
after you.. I
will keep My
covenant with
you, that never
again will all
flesh be cut off
by flood waters,
never again will
flood waters
destroy the
earth. .. This
is the sign of
the covenant
that I pledge
between Myself
and you .. I
have set my
[rain] bow in
the clouds, and
it shall be a
sign of the
covenant between
Myself and the
earth. .. and I
will see it to
remember the
eternal covenant
between Elokim
and between
every living
soul ..
So far so good -
but it's all
downhill from
here:
These three were
the sons of
Noach, and from
these, the whole
world developed.
Noach began to
be a man of the
soil and he
planted a
vineyard. ..He
drank of the
wine and was
intoxicated. He
[then] uncovered
himself in his
tent. .Cham the
father of Canaan
saw the
nakedness of his
father, and told
it to his
brothers [who
were] outside.
.. Sheim and
Yafes took the
cloak, placed it
on their
shoulders, and
walked
backwards,
covering the
nakedness of
their father. ..
Noach awoke from
his wine
[induced sleep]
and he realized
what had been
done to him by
his youngest
son. He said,
"Cursed is
Canaan. A slave
of slaves shall
he be to his
brothers."
"Blessed is
Hashem the G-d
of Sheim; ..
After the Flood,
Noach lived
three hundred
and fifty years.
All the days of
Noach totaled
nine hundred and
fifty years, and
he died.
Noach plants a
vineyard, gets
drunk, exposes
himself and
ultimately
something very
disturbing
happens[1].
What precisely
happens to Noach
is a matter of
midrashic
controversy.
Either way,
Noach is
disgraced, Cham/Kena'an
are cursed and
Noach disappears
from the world
scene - his last
three hundred
and fifty years
a total mystery
- as he yields
the world stage
to Avraham Avinu,
the father of
our people.
A simple point:
A quick read of
these verses
gives us a sense
of immediacy, it
is almost as if
Noach plants a
vineyard and
shortly
afterwards gets
drunk - omitting
the interim
years that it
takes to develop
the vineyard to
yield the wine.
We are left to
ponder what
happened in the
interim. A
remarkable
midrash image
solves our
problem and
creates a
greater one [Bereishis
rabah 36]
R. Chiya Bar Aba
said. On the
very same day he
planted, on that
day he drunk and
on that day he
was disgraced
In other words,
there were no
in-between
years! That
textual sense of
immediate impact
that we feel in
our read is
reflective of a
miraculous
reality. On the
very same day
that Noach
planted the
sapling, he gets
drunk[2].
Now, that's
productivity!
The Dubner
Maggid [Mishlei
Ya'akov] however
raises an
obvious
question: Why
should Hashem
wrought a
miracle for
naught? What
positive gain is
accomplished by
fast-forwarding
nature in this
situation? To
the contrary,
this event
spells the
effective end of
Noach. In
typical fashion,
he responds with
a story[3]
[admittedly
contemporized]
A dirt poor
chassid, Yankele
pleaded with his
Rebbe to receive
a bracha for
wealth. The
Rebbe responded,
generously
assuring him
that the first
endeavor he
invests in will
be wildly
successful. Our
destitute
chassid comes
home, bursting
with excitement,
perhaps even
counting his
gelt. As enters,
he rushes to his
wise wife
Ruchele [who was
in charge of the
finances]
demanding
access to the
last bit of
saved monies
hidden somewhere
in their hovel.
Ruchele demurs;
she knows what a
shlamozel
Yankel is. He
persists,
Ruchele refuses.
She is not going
to give up the
last bit of gelt.
After a major
machlokes,
(fight) Yankele
decides to find
it himself; he
snoops around
and shortly
thereafter spots
the the money,
takes it, goes
to the market,
buys carpets and
sets up a booth.
Our luckless,
Yankele waits
one day, two
day, one week,
two week and
does no
business. Stuck
with useless
carpets and
nowhere to turn
but the Rebbe -
he trudges back
demanding his
money back
[don't all
brachos come
with money back
guarantee?] The
Rebbe listens to
Yankel's tale of
woe: Rebbe, I
did exactly what
you told me,
came home, got
the money,
invested and
look still no
hatzlacha.
The Rebbe turns
to Yankel:
Have you given
me the complete
story? Is there
something you
might have left
out. Yankel
remembers: his
wife had refused
to turn over the
money; he thus
relates to the
Rebbe. And
then what
happened?
We got into a
fight -
Was it a big
fight?
Rebbe, it was
the strangest
thing, we
usually have
such good shalom
bayis, in all
our years of
marriage, this
was the biggest
fight we ever
had -
whereupon the
Rebbe knowingly
spoke:
Yankel, the
bracha I gave
was that your
first endeavor
shall be wildly
successful, you
chose to invest
that bracha in
machlokes
(conflict) - and
indeed, by your
own admission,
it was the most
successful
machlokes you
ever had.
My dear Yankel -
you must learn
to use your
bracha properly.
Noach leaves
the ark and it
is a propitious
time of bracha
in the world. As
Kli Yakar points
out - the Noach/
Adam HaRishon
parallels are
remarkable. On
some level,
Noach is
regaining
Paradise Lost.
Just as Adam and
Chava bear
children on the
very same day in
Gan Eden, Noach
has an
opportunity to
cash in on the
blessing and
invest it in
ways deep and
meaningful - to
restart the
world with a
sense of Kedusha.
Laden within
that
vineyard/sapling/grape,
(which may have
been the actual
fruit of Adam's
sin) was the
potential of
teshuva - of
renewal and
return. Indeed,
wine itself can
be poured on the
altar,
consecrated at a
wedding or be
used in the
basest and
profane places.
Our lives are
bracha-full. As
a collective
whole, we are a
kind, smart,
patient people
who have given
the world [as
God's proxy] so
many gifts and
yet as we
reflect upon
those
contributions we
can smile and
cry
simultaneously.
So much good and
yet so much
narishkeit!
When we
consider how
much blessing we
hold in our
lives, let us
wisely ask
ourselves the
question - both
personal and
communal: is our
bracha portfolio
reaping holy
dividends?
Invest wisely.
Good Shabbos,
Asher Brander
[1]
According
to the
midrash,
he was
either
castrated
or
molested.
[2]
A simple
textual
proof to
the
midrash
is that
after
the
event,
the
Torah
records
that he
lived
another
350
years
and died
at the
age of
950.
Noach
was 600
at the
time of
the
flood.
Thus the
whole
event
happened
over a
short
period
of time
[3]
The
mashal
is
contemporized
- but
the
point is
the
same.
